Balloon

"R. I. P. Tibetan filmmaker and writer Pema Tseden (1969-2023), whose untimely departure is reportedly due to complications from altitude sickness. Bequeathing us with 9 feature films (with two still in post-production), he has been the torchbearer of the emergent Tibetan cinema for over two decades. With his career going from strength to strength, it is a tremendous loss for Chinese film industry and cinephiles across the globe.

BALLOON is his antepenultimate film, a self-contained story set in the 1990s, about a Tibetan family of sheep farmers living in the back of beyond. The very first scene is a shot seen behind a transparent "balloon", only to reveal that it is actually a condom, which is mistaken by two tykes as a plaything. It is a comical opening, bringing a racy, secular tang to the often mythicized denizens of Tibet."

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Felt in the hands of a master storyteller from the opening scenes shot through an opaque film, that we soon learn is a balloon. The narrative and cinematography are so captivating we forgot we were in a theatre. We are in rural Tibet, yet the family lives in a very modern world, albeit controlled by what is considered modern for Chinese society. Yet the characters are as sophisticated as any one in Paris or Melbourne. A joy to watch.

From Venice Film Festival 2019, Tromsø International Film Festival 2020, Tokyo FILMeX 2019, Shanghai International Film Festival 2020 to Oslo Films from the South Festival 2019, this was the film that attracted a special attention ! Director Pema Tseden's name is now remembered around the world, thanks to this amazing work of film art where a Tibetan sheepherding family attempts to deal with a seismic event in their lives.

Truthful, poetic, full of courage and resilience, this movie will show you a real world of faith, life in close connection with the forces of nature, and a power of individual and the family - positive and negative!